Avalon Roads
by Nicolive
Summary: A poem ficlet. Gwen's POV. Just read it, I worked really hard on it. Reincarnation fic.


Avalon Roads

When I was a child I would ride along in my father's car along a dusty beat up road.

And watch as a lonely old man would walk that same road all alone.

My father told me to let him be, he was just another lost and lonely soul.

My father was a kind man, but a man who didn't want to let me go.

But every Sunday on the way to church I saw that man walk to same old dusty road.

I never saw him sit in a pew, or stand even by the door to the church for that matter,

He seemed like a man who had given up hope, a man who had lost his faith.

How was I supposed to know that inside of him was torment and loss writhing like a wraith?

Every Sunday that man walked the same old path,

He went past the lake called Avalon, a walking stick in his hand, though he held it like a staff.

Every Sunday when I went to hear the preacher pray,

I might've sworn I heard the old man say,

"A thousand years I have walked,

A thousand years I'll wait,

Till I find that king I serve,

And his bright eyed queen."

Now, I as a child balked.

But this man walked with such a gait,

As if he was walking in a dream.

Now I do not know what possessed me one day,

But then I heard myself yell and say:

"Hey old wanderer,

Why do you wander so?

All my life I've seen you wander,

Down the beat up path of Avalon Road."

I was a teenager, eighteen or so,

But I saw that man smile and crinkle his eyes,

And suddenly I felt a thousand and more

And then man became a miracle,

He whispered my name and then said another.

How was he to know my name was Gwen?

He said it carefully as if I were as fragile as a wren.

He said his name was Emrys,

But he said that another name was also his.

But when I asked for it, he smiled sadly and said:

"Dear Gwen, you know it in your heart,

But I fear it is something you cannot find with smarts.

Nor with wit nor brawn,

To find my name simply remember what is gone,

But if you do not then I must leave,

So if you sit, for you my tale I'll weave."

So I sat on the road with my newfound friend,

And listened to tales of adventure and freedom with magic to lend.

The tale of King Uther, the brave and the misguided,

He outlawed those of magic, the poor he derided.

I loved the tales of Sir Gwaine, the drunken flirt who yet remained valiant.

He flirted till dawn yet still bested all of the assailants.

Or what of brave Elyon? The knight I saw as my brother?

And Queen Gwen who rose above her station,

King Arthur who was her significant other.

And then there was Merlin, the underdog of them all.

A poor boy who gave breath to the legend,

Magic to spare and a heart to give,

It was Merlin who time again saved his brethren.

But then I was told the story of Camlann,

Of how the king of Camelot burned at Avalon,

And Morgana the betrayer fought with Mordred the Druid.

And how Merlin's heart had broken and Morgana fell to ruin.

I cried as if I knew them, the story moved me so.

And I said something without thinking:

"If I didn't know any better I'd say you are Merlin."

And Emrys, the Avalon man as many called him smiled sadly and began to walk away.

I had guessed it right but guessed it wrong.

So Merlin Emrys began to walk the road that ran so long.

And I stared at the back of the weary Avalon Man.

There on the Avalon Road.

Till one day a blonde man came and swept me off my feet,

Arthur and I were married after 16 weeks.

And there at our reception,

Was Emrys, always welcome.

And he came up to me and kissed me on my cheek,

He said "Good luck" and patted my strong hand with his weak.

I heard later that he had died an hour after.

Caught by a car, old age, it didn't matter.

I cried my sorrow filled tears; it felt as if a part of me was lost.

My husband held me in his arms, he asked no questions.

My husband Arthur payed attention

To the story Emrys had told me.

And then 9 months later I birthed a son,

Somehow I knew that he was not just anyone.

I named him Merlin for the story I had heard,

And Emrys for the man who told me his words.

So I had my husband Arthur, and our son,

Merlin Emrys Pendragon.

And how Merlin did look like Emrys albeit now young.

And then our minds opened, oh how they sung!

For I was Gwen always and ever since,

By husband was a king, and I his queen.

My son was a manservant, but now he was a prince.

Never was a joyous sight ever seen.

Emrys had left me a gift,

My memories returned.

Didn't the great dragon say "They will return one day."?

So now, I have spirits to lift,

A world to try to fix,

Hunger, poverty, orphans in the streets.

God gave my family another chance for a reason.

So Arthur and I became missionaries.

Teachers to the weak,

Parents to orphans,

A king among peasants,

A queen in the street.

Our family grew as our message spread,

To share the joy of the good news of the Gospel.

"They will return when the world needs them most."

Well the world we returned to is tired and broken, in need of love.

So we, King Arthur and Queen Gwenivere, and Merlin there son,

Spread the message of the Bible from above.

But we could not have done it if I had not talked to that lonely old man one day,

On the corner were meet the Avalon roads.


End file.
